


Cuddles

by Subtlety Lost (fishstic)



Series: Commissions for GayWarden [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Modern AU, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 03:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5990575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishstic/pseuds/Subtlety%20Lost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 3 of 3 of the Fluff Commission for GayWarden.</p><p>What's it mean when your girlfriend of seven years meets your girlfriends of two? Well luckily for Leliana it means Josephine loves her very much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cuddles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GayWarden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayWarden/gifts).



Josephine steeled herself for a second, gathering the courage to knock on the door, and hoping that she had the right apartment. She was standing in the hallway for a good ten minutes before she actually knocked on the door. She’d practiced many things to say to whoever answered the door. Things like ‘Hi, I was hoping Leliana might be here’ and ‘I swear I’m not with the chantry.’ Instead, when she heard the gasp of the person who opened the door, what she said was, “I know this looks bad.”

Ella took in the appearance of the Antivan woman standing in the hallway. Aside from being a little fluffier ( _ was that an okay thing to say? Leliana might slap her for it if she actually said it, so maybe not _ ) than what Leliana described, she did look the same. This was Leliana’s old friend, Josephine. The girl—woman—who Leliana had been dating for seven years despite her thinking Leliana was dead for four of them.  _ Looks bad? Is she referring to being here at three am or the cut on her cheek? _ “Yes. It looks very bad; I have a first aid kit you know.”

“I know.” Josephine nodded. She didn’t really know, she just assumed that there would be a first aid kit. Leliana always had one, so of course there would be one if this was really Leliana’s apartment. Then again, if this was Leliana’s apartment, who was this woman?

“Good,” Ella said with a small smile. She stepped back, holding the door open. “Would you like to come inside?” There was no way she was going to let Leliana’s… there had to be a word to describe the fact that Leliana and Josephine had been dating a lot longer than Leliana and Ella had… actually Leliana had been dating Josephine even longer than Leliana had  _ known _ Ella. This was certainly interesting. Anyway, there was no way Ella was going to let Josephine stand out in the hallway at three am with a bleeding cut on her cheek.

“You don’t even know my name,” Josephine countered, still unsure of if she’d even found the right apartment.

“Of course I do,” Ella protested. “It’s Josephine, right?”

“Okay…” Josephine might have been more than a little weirded out that this person knew her name. “So you do know my name. I don’t know yours though. Rather unfair of an advantage to have.”

“It’s Ella,” Ella replied. She held out her hand. “Please come in. Leliana wouldn’t want you standing out in the hallway like that.”

Josephine’s face lit up in that instance, the moment Leliana’s name was mentioned. She had the right apartment after all. “Leliana is here?” she asked stepping into the apartment.

“Well she’s asleep, but yes.” Ella smiled as she led Josephine over to the table between the kitchen and living room.

“Why not the couch?” Josephine asked. Purely out of curiosity.

“Meiriana fell asleep on it again,” Ella said.

“Who’s Meiriana? In fact, I know your name, but who are you?” Josephine asked as Ella searched the kitchen drawers for the first aid kit.

“I’m… well, it’s hard to explain…”

“Josephine!” Leliana’s voice contained none of her sleepiness when it called out her girlfriend’s name. She crossed the apartment quickly. “Josie, what happened? How did you get here?”

Josephine was happy to let Leliana fuss over her for a moment, until she felt Leliana touch her cheek gently and winced. “It’s a rather long story, and you know I’m fairly not good at telling long stories.”

“I’m all ears,” Leliana said, then turned for a moment. “Ella, the first aid kit is in the bathroom.”

“Oh right,” Ella said and headed off to get it.

“I know I owe you an explanation about being here and about the cut and all that but first,” Josephine said. “Who is your lovely friend?”

Leliana blushed for a moment, unsure of what her longtime friend and girlfriend might think of the fact that she had two other girlfriends. “Well…”

“Is that a long story too?” Josephine asked.

“It’s… in a way…yes.”

“You’re being avoidant,” Josephine pointed out. “I want to see if I can guess since you seem unsure of how to tell it. She… and Meiriana, whom I know nothing about other than she fell asleep on the couch again as Ella put it, live with you. You must care a great deal about them to let that happen. Are you perhaps, dating one or both of them?”

“I uhhh…”

“Just tell me, Leli. I don’t mind either way,” Josephine said reaching out and putting a hand on Leliana’s arm reassuringly.

“I’m dating both of them,” Leliana said looking at the table, unsure of if Josephine actually didn’t mind or if she was just playing The Game.

“I feel like there’s more to it than that,” Josephine said kindly. She didn’t like Leliana keeping secrets, though from what she remembered of Leliana it was part of who she was.

“There’s others. Isabela and Morrigan, but I’m not dating them. We’re just… really good friends?” Leliana’s face was red, almost as red as her hair.

“You’re sleeping with them?” Josephine asked, her tone light and teasing. She’d known for a long time that Leliana had those feelings and urges and respected that. She also knew that Leliana respected that she didn’t feel the same way and often found other outlets for her urges.

“Not at the same time,” Leliana said trying to salvage a little of her dignity.

Josephine just laughed. “Still a self-proclaimed master of seduction?”

Hearing Josephine laugh brought a smile to her face. “Maker, no. I made a complete fool of myself trying to get Meiriana to date me.”

“Lucky for her,” Ella said, walking back in with the first aid kit. “Meiriana was oblivious enough not to even notice. She told me she thought it was really cute that Leliana compared being in love to being stuck in caramel pudding.”

Leliana laid her head on the table in shame. She’d really hoped Meiriana hadn’t told anyone about that. 

Ella chucked, then sat the first aid kit on the table. “Okay, Josephine hold still, this might sting.”

No one said anything while Ella worked to clean and disinfect the cut on Josephine’s cheek. Though both Ella and Leliana noted that Ella had picked a few small shards of glass out of it. Part of the long story that Josephine was eventually going to tell them.

They didn’t notice when Meiriana woke up, thinking she’d just sleep through it like she slept through the thunderstorms and small earthquake that happened a few months ago. All things considered, Meiriana could sleep through a hell of a lot of things, however having the light on was not one of them.

She stood up and stretched then walked over to the table and tugged on Josephine’s sleeve. “What country are you from?” she asked, her voice very cutely betraying the fact that she had just woken up.

Josephine turned to look at her when Ella was finished tending the cut. She was a little surprised that she was looking the small elf in the eyes, her face reading ‘she can’t really be this small’ for a split second before she answered the question. “Antiva.”

“Leliana, we need to call Antiva. Someone needs to tell them they’re missing their most beautiful woman. We should let them know where she is,” Meiriana said.

Josephine blushed hotly.

Leliana just stared between Josephine and Meiriana for a moment, the only thought in her head was  _ my asexual Elven girlfriend is a master of seduction. _ Then she turned and glared at Ella. “What did you do?”

Ella shrugged. “I am guilty of many things, but that isn’t one of them.”

“Will someone make me cookies?” Meiriana asked.

“You’re pretty cute,” Josephine said.

“That doesn’t seem to help me get cookies,” Meiriana replied.

“Meiri, it’s three am, why do you want cookies?” Leliana asked.

“Why not?”

“That’s not a helpful response,” Leliana said.

“I’m hungry. I want cookies,” Meiriana said.

“Does it have to be cookies?” Josephine asked. “I’m sure we could come to an agreement.”

“I… I would settle for cuddles.”

“Cuddles from who?” Josephine asked.

“Cuddles from you?” Meiriana asked. She wasn’t quite sure even who exactly this pretty Antivan woman was, or why she was in their apartment at three am but if she was a problem, Leliana wouldn’t be looking at her like she trusted her.

“Meiriana,” Leliana said. “You don’t even know her.”

“No, but you do,” Meiriana replied. “You like her.”

Leliana blushed slightly and put her head on the table again.

Josephine smiled. “Don’t worry Leliana, I’m sure she means no harm.”

“Yeah, it’s not like I bite or anything,” Meiriana replied. “Well… I bite my food. Hey… wait. Where’s Fluffy and Maric? Ella, where are the dogs?”

“They’re asleep in the bedroom,” Ella replied.

“Oh okay. Well then… will you cuddle me?” Meiriana asked Josephine.

“I see no harm in it,” Josephine said standing up. “On the couch?”

“The couch is nice,” Meiriana replied taking Josephine’s hand and leading her over to it.

Josephine smiled and sat down on it. Meiriana smiled too and sat down beside her and cuddled up with her head on Josephine’s chest.

“How did that happen?” Meiriana asked looking at the bandage on Josephine’s cheek.

“It’s a long story,” Josephine said.

“I like stories,” Meiriana replied.

“Well see… I’m a diplomat. Well, in training to be a diplomat. I’m just an intern right now, but someday I’ll be a diplomat and I was with the actual diplomat. The one I’m learning from. And since he’s a diplomat sometimes people get mad at him, you know? And apparently he had made someone really,  _ really _ mad. So yesterday…” She trailed off when she noticed Leliana looking at her. “What?”

“Nothing, I’m just listening,” Leliana replied.

“I told you I’m not very good at telling stories, I ramble and leave off important things and just…”

“Keep telling the story,” Leliana said gently. “I like hearing your voice and I’m really curious.”

“Right, so yesterday these people showed up after the office was closed and kind of broke in, and they did so by smashing in the glass on the door while I was standing near it. That’s where the cut came from, the glass of the door.” She smiled happy with her story’s ending until she remembered. “Oh and the ambassador… I’m not actually sure if he’s okay, he kind of pushed me out the back entrance and told me to ‘find some place safe to go until someone from his office could contact me again’ and that he’d be sure it would be someone I know. And that’s why I’m here. I kind of wasn’t entirely sure if this was the right apartment, but I knew the building from what you’d told me about it and about the Chantry next door.”

“How did you find my apartment number?” Leliana asked.

“The guy in the office downstairs,” Josephine replied. “Come sit over here,  _ mon chéri. _ It has been a long time since we’ve gotten to be close.”

Leliana smiled and sat down on the couch next to Josephine, on the opposite side as Meiriana. “It has, hasn’t it?”

“Over five years,” Josephine replied.

“I’ll bring you three a blanket,” Ella said. “You three look adorable together. Maybe I should take a picture.”

By the time Ella had returned with a blanket, Meiriana had already fallen back asleep cuddled with Josephine and Leliana looked about ready to do the same. Josephine was the one to thank her for the blanket, she also thanked her for treating the cut, then wished her good dreams when Ella headed back to the bedroom to sleep, since there was no room on the couch for her.

 


End file.
